Take 23% Irish VAT off a price
Divide the total by 1.23, or take 23/123 of it as the tax. 123 including VAT at 23% is 100 before VAT and 23 of tax. Subtracting 23% instead gives 94.71, which is more than five short, and the gap widens with the rate: the error is the rate squared, so it is 4% at 20% and 5.3% at 23%. Ireland's standard rate has been 23% since January 2012, when it rose from 21%.
The same amount in each Irish band
| Standard | 23.00% | 23/123 | €100.00 | €23.00 | €123.00 |
| Reduced | 13.50% | 27/227 | €108.37 | €14.63 | €123.00 |
| Second reduced | 9.00% | 9/109 | €112.84 | €10.16 | €123.00 |
| Livestock | 4.80% | 6/131 | €117.37 | €5.63 | €123.00 |
| Zero-rated | 0.00% | 0 | €123.00 | €0.00 | €123.00 |
An estimate, not legal advice. Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Check the current position with a qualified professional before relying on it.
23/123 is already in lowest terms, so there is no shortcut fraction the way 20% gives one sixth.
Subtracting 23% from a gross price understates the net by 5.3% of itself — noticeably worse than the same mistake at 20%.
The standard rate covers everything Revenue has not placed in one of the four lower bands, which is most goods and services.
How it works
The formula
Adding VAT to a price that excludes it:
vat = round(net x rate / 100)
gross = net + vat
Removing VAT from a price that includes it:
vat = round(gross x rate / (100 + rate))
net = gross - vat
Irish bands and their VAT fractions:
standard 23% 23/123
reduced 13.5% 27/227
second reduced 9% 9/109
livestock 4.8% 6/131
zero 0% no tax
round = to the nearest cent, half up. No round-down
option: that concession is British.
Only the VAT is rounded. The third figure is derived from
the other two, so net + vat = gross to the cent, always.
What it assumes
- The five bands are the rates Revenue publishes as current. Which band a supply falls in is a searchable database Revenue maintains rather than a principle to reason from, so this tool applies a rate and does not classify goods.
- The dates on the rate rows are the effective date Revenue's own current-rates table carries, not the date each rate was first set. The standard rate has in fact been 23% since January 2012; where a longer history matters it is in the prose below rather than in the data.
- The 9% rate on food, catering and hairdressing from July 2026 is a reclassification rather than a new rate — supplies moved between two bands that both already existed. The rate values are unchanged, which is why nothing in the table moved with them.
- The 4.5% flat-rate addition is not a VAT rate and is deliberately not one of the bands. It is worked out identically, which is why it is offered as the default typed rate instead.
- Rounding is half up to the cent with no option, for the same reason as the German tool — the round-down concession belongs to HMRC, and offering it here would be inventing a rule.
- Figures are in euros because Irish VAT is denominated in euros. Nothing is converted and no exchange rate is applied anywhere.
Common questions
Which supplies are standard-rated in Ireland?
The standard rate is the default rather than a list: anything Revenue has not assigned to the 13.5%, 9%, 4.8% or zero band falls into it. That covers most consumer goods, professional services, alcohol sold for consumption off the premises, and telecommunications. Revenue publishes a searchable database of individual supplies, which is the only reliable way to check an unusual one.
Is the flat-rate addition a VAT rate?
No, although it looks like one and is calculated the same way. A farmer who is not registered for VAT charges a flat-rate addition on agricultural supplies to compensate for VAT they cannot reclaim, and the registered buyer can deduct it as if it were input tax. It sits outside the five bands, which is why it is offered here as a typed rate rather than as a band.
Sources
Method written and checked by Tessalor on Jul 31, 2026.
The full method, worked example and every assumption behind this figure are on Irish VAT Calculator.